Apostolí  se Thy Patéra
by SiriuslyimSirius
Summary: Harry Potter has finally defeated Voldemort. Unfortunately, some Death Eaters hold grudges and one sends a spell at him. Will Harry be able to change mistakes that he never made?
1. Five Seconds

Five Seconds

Five seconds.

Five seconds was all it took for all hell to break loose. Nobody gave Harry time to just realize it was over.

All he could do was stare at the lifeless shell that once belonged to man that even his most loyal followers feared. He didn't even acknowledge the fact that he was being pulled into hugs or being touched or having his hand shook.

He couldn't believe it was finally over. After all that running and hiding, it was over. Harry felt lke he would wake up at any second now. He would be shaken awake by Hermione after only four hours of sleep to take over. He would be shaken awake only to keep guard and make sure they weren't attacked in their sleep.

He would be stand guard for four hours and wake Ron up. He would then lay back down and worry about what may happen to them if they let their guard. Worrying about what would happen if they got caught. Worrying about what kind of torture they would be put through at Voldemort's hand.

More than once he longed to be able to just wake up from his four hours to find out Voldemort was dead. But no, that was not possible. He had a job to do, a job that everyone relied on. Harry knew the kind of pressure he was under. It was his job to do this. That prophecy was about himself and Voldemort, not the Order of Phoenix and Voldemort, no, only Harry could do this.

It was Harry that shared the connection with Voldemort. It was Harry who had seen Voldemort kill that old wandmaker. Harry knew when Voldemort was feeling an extreme emotion. It was Harry that felt the way.

Harry was still staring at the spot where Voldemort was before he got moved so people could celebrate. He could tell that people moved away from him after a little while. He felt a woman's pair of arm around him and saw the red hair.

He heard, but didn't react to, the loud bang. He rested his chin on the woman's head.

He heard screams around him and yelling. The woman tried to move away, but Harry's arm kept her with him. He couldn't be alone.

More screams.

Five seconds was all it took for Harry Potter and Ginerva Weasley to disappear from the Great Hall.

Five seconds.

**A/N: **I know, this chapter is short. The next chapter will longer, believe me.


	2. Gotta be a Prank

Gotta be a Prank

"Harry? What happened?" Ginny asked, still wrapped in Harry's arms.

"I don't know, I'm afraid if I open my eyes, Voldemort will be alive and everything would have been a dream." Harry said dryly. Harry opened his eyes slightly, and was relieved.

"Were only in the Great Hall, but where is everyone?" Ginny said looking around. Harry pulled Ginny back into his arm.

"Ginny," Harry said softly. He heard Ginny murmur an "Hmm?" into his chest.

"I'm sorry." Harry said rather bluntly. Ginny stiffened in Harry's arm.

"You should be, do you know what you put me through? For all I knew you could have been dead!" Ginny said getting out of Harry's arms. She looked up at his face and her eyes widened

"Harry." She whispered. She reached up and touched his face.

"What?" Harry asked, worried that something was wrong. "Hold on." Harry reached into his pocket for his glasses; he didn't even remember taking them off. He slipped them onto his face and was shocked by what he saw. He would always remember what Ginny looked like the first time he saw, just after getting to the Burrow after being taken away from the Dursley's.

He felt like he was looking at a memory of that time.

"Ginny, you look so young!" Harry said. Ginny glared at him. Harry realized what he just said, "I mean, young_er_. You looked a lot young then before."

"Look who's talking? At least my voice isn't all squeaky like yours." Ginny said still glaring at him.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it, why do you have to be so difficult? Can't you just forgive me for what I did? I wanted to protect you! I… I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I lost you just because you were my girlfriend." Harry said, whispering the last part.

"Harry, you don't need to worry about me, _ever. _I can handle myself perfectly fine, and I'll only forgive you on one condition, and it has to be good to." Ginny said in a soft tone.

"Anything." Harry whispered.

"Kiss me." Ginny didn't even get to a breath in after she finished. Harry caught her lips in his own. They both stood there in an embrace fiercer than the one she gave Harry on his birthday. Ginny had her hands entangled in Harry's hair while Harry's hands were on Ginny's waist.

The sound of someone clearing their throats made both of them whip their heads towards the doors. Both of them blushed furiously when they saw Albus Dumbledore standing in the doorway with McGonagall standing to his right.

"Imagine my surprise, when me and Professor McGonagall were having a meeting, when my alarms went off. I believed that my new Defense teacher had arrived, so imagine how shocked I am to find two children kissing in the middle of the dining area." Dumbledore said in a calm voice. McGonagall clearly looked surprised and was blushing.

Harry just about fainted. He was a man he had saw die, clearly _alive. _ Harry looked over to Ginny and she looked equally shocked. "Ho- Profe- alive?" _Great, now I can't even say a full sentence. _Harry thought to himself

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that" Dumbledore said still looking for an explanation. Ginny seemed to snap out of it.

"Don't you remember?" Ginny began. "You sent us a letter saying to meet you here for the tour. Were…. Orphans! And we don't know much about magic. The letter you gave us said to be touching it at this time and well, I guess we got carried away and forgot." Harry looked at Ginny, she was an amazing liar."

Harry followed behind Dumbledore, while Ginny was with McGonagall.

"Sir?" Harry said.

Dumbledore turned around to look at Harry only to find a wand in his face.

"Give me one good reason why I should believe you're Albus Dumbledore" Harry spat out.

"Who else would I be?" Dumbledore asked, shocked that a student would raise a wand to him. And by the looks of things, Ginny had led Minerva off somewhere.

"Anybody else, seeing as how Albus Dumbledore is dead!" Harry practically yelled.

"My dear boy, I'm not dead, nor am I an imposter. Here I shall give you an oath. I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, swear on my life and magic to have no lawful knowledge of being an imposter of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." Dumbledore's wand turned a shade of white stating that what he said was true.

"Ok," Harry said slowly and after a moment consideration he hissed, "_Obliviate." _Dumbledore's eyes grew wide before they went back to normal. "And that concludes our tour."

"Thank you Professor, I will see you on the first." Harry said with a forced smile.

"Ginny?" Harry almost yelled. Ginny appeared at the next corner.

"Thank you, see you September 1st!' Harry called as he quickly made his way to the entrance. Ginny seemed as ready to get out of Hogwarts as Harry was. They all but ran out of the place.

When they reached the gate both of them were panting.

"What's going on?" Harry managed to gasp out.

"I don't know Harry. I don't like this though, how is Dumbledore alive?"

"I don't know. This is just bloody great! I finally finish of Voldemort and get hit with a bloody spell! I finally got a chance at peace and it's grabbed away from me." Harry ranted pacing back and forth. Harry's head snapped up, "Oh god, Ginny." Harry rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry about this. This is exactly what I was talking about! Just because I was stupid enough not to let go of our hug, I got you hit with a spell. I'm so sorry." Harry whispered the last part into her hair."

Ginny pulled out of the hug and looked Harry in the eye, "Harry, I told you before, I'm not a child. I can handle myself. Whatever we got ourselves into, we have each other. We won't be alone. And besides, I wasn't trying to break the hug; I was trying to give you a kiss." Ginny finished with a sly grin and gave Harry a kiss.

"You know, I never realized how cute you were when you were young." Harry said truly looking at her for the first time.

"Shut it." Ginny said playfully. "What should we do first?" Ginny said looking around, as if their surroundings would give them an answer.

"We should probably go to Diagon Alley and see what day it is. I kind of mentioned we would come back on the first." Harry said rubbing his neck. "We can use the Three Broomsticks fireplace too." Harry said, pointing at the pub.

Ginny said "Ok, can you glamour yourself though? We're not sure what's going on and the last thing you need is to be mobbed."

Harry nodded and did the necessary charms, when he finished he had longer brown hair, he was slightly taller, and a rounder face. "How do I look?" Harry said, taking a piece of his brown hair and looking at it.

Ginny patted his cheek, "Absolutely dreadful." She said before taking off toward the pub. Harry ran and caught up with her. They walked into the pub holding hands. Harry steered here towards the fireplace and had here go first.

Harry cried "Diagon Alley!" into the fireplace after Ginny. Harry was surprised to see the pub was crowded and that Tom wasn't the barman. Ginny was waiting for him by the door to the courtyard. When they got into the courtyard, Harry tapped the necessary bricks with his wand and did a double take.

The Diagon Alley that was in front of him was nothing like the run down, deserted alley it was the last time Harry was here. This Alley reminded Harry of the first time he was here. It was colorful, loud, and busy. It was almost like nothing had happened to it. Harry looked over and saw that Ginny was shocked too.

"I don't like this Harry." Ginny whispered to him.

"Me neither Gin, me neither." Harry whispered back. Harry gave a small squeeze on Ginny's hand and pulled her towards a newspaper rack.

"You got any money?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Mr. Potter! Imagine how this makes me look! A woman, pulling out her money, to buy a paper for her boyfriend!" Ginny asked with pursued lips in a way that made her look like Professor McGonagall. Harry could see the hidden smirk though.

"Well, it's kind of hard to keep on me while I was being chased by Voldemort." Harry answered back. He felt bad for saying it immediately as he watched her face drain of color.

"Ginny." Harry said quietly.

"Drop it." Ginny whispered back.

"Ginny, I didn-" Harry said only to be cut off.

"I said drop it!" Ginny nearly screamed gaining some attention. She put a sickle on the stand and grabbed a paper. She walked off to the Leaky Cauldron without even sparing a glance at Harry. Harry sighed to himself and followed her. He walked into the pub and saw Ginny sitting at a table looking at the newspaper without really reading it. Harry sat down next to her and saw her eyes flicker towards him and then back to the paper.

"Ginny, I'm sorry for what I said before. I just meant it as a joke." Harry said, grabbing her hands.

"I know," Ginny said sighing, "It's just, I really missed you, and I wasn't sure if the next time I would see you would be if you were hugging me, or lying lifeless in a coffin."

Harry gave Ginny's hand a squeeze and she gave a squeeze back. She looked back down at the paper and for the second time today, Harry watched the color drain out of Ginny's face. He heard her mutter a few choice words to herself.

"Ginny?" Harry asked worriedly, "Did Rita Skeeter write something bad about us hugging or something?"

"Shut up Harry!" Something in her tone made Harry worry.

"What is it?" Harry asked, only to have her shove the newspaper into his face.

"What?" He asked looking it over. She pointed to a certain part on the paper, that when Harry saw it, he almost fainted.

"Oh god, no no no! This can't be real! It's got to be a joke, a really cruel joke!" Harry said slightly hysterical.

"Harry, I'm pretty sure it real." Ginny whispered so low Harry almost didn't hear it.

"It can't be, ha, it's a dream Ginny! Were in a dream!" Harry said, starting to lose it.

"Harry!" Ginny yelled before they were kicked out. "Listen to me!" She grabbed his hand and squeezed hard. "It's real Harry; nobody would play a prank on you like this. We really are in the year of 1971"

**A/N: **Whoa! Who saw that one coming? Well, actually, I did. But that's not the point. I forgot to mention, everything before this is canon. This chapter is short, I was going to cut it off at a different place, but felt this was good place to stop.

I would also like to dedicate this chapter to my iPod. During the middle of this chapter I sat writing for my lovely readers listening to my iPod when tragedy struck. My iPod died. Clearly, I was shocked. So, I raced off to trying to look for a problem. I found out that my battery for the iPod had died. I raced off to my room to grab my charger and plugged it in. I sat next to it for 3 hours waiting for it to charge. I am pleased to say it is at 100%, however, it will need to be charged for the rest of its life. I would like to make everyone aware of the fact that your iPod may have a problem. Tragedy may strike when you are least expecting it. So please, have your iPod checked.

: Psst… Did the excuse for why you were so late for this chapter work?

Me: I think so, look! They're all running off to charge their iPods! Muahahahaha!


	3. We're Only Eleven!

We're Only Eleven!

"Harry?"

Harry groaned and rolled over on the couch he was sleeping in.

"Harry?" This time the person calling Harry's name shook him trying to wake him.

As a result, Harry tried pushing whoever tried waking him up from his dream. It was a nice dream, a dream where Harry's life wasn't a twisted game for someone's sick pleasure

"Harry!" The voice screamed one last time. Harry finally opened his eyes and saw Ginny standing above him with her hands on her hips. Laughing at her expression Harry pulled her down onto the couch with him pulled her under the blanket with him.

"Harry!" Ginny said sternly, even though a smile was tugging at her lips.

"May I ask why you are waking me up so early?" Harry asked, checking his watch and seeing it read 7 o'clock.

"We have to get ready to go to Platform 9¾" Ginny said trying to get up. Harry groaned and released her, not bothering to get up.

"Don't even start!" Ginny said, starting to get annoyed. "I'm not the one who told the Headmaster that we would be there!" Ginny said, refusing to say Dumbledore.

Harry sighed, "Ginny, we talked about this, I really didn't have a choice. I was shocked to even see him alive!"

"Well when you altered his memories you should have made him think something else!" Ginny snapped back.

Harry faltered. "I…I don't know if I obliviated him." He admitted sheepishly.

"You're joking… right?" Ginny asked quietly.

"I don't know! I cast the spell and it seemed to hit him, but his eyes just widened like he was shocked, not how they look when you're obliviated." Harry replied looking up at Ginny. He saw her looking down and watched as she shoved his feet off the couch so he was sitting and sat where his feet had just occupied.

"Well that's just great." She said sarcastically. "Well, I guess we didn't make the best first impression."

Ginny sighed. "Well, he has our letters and he's probably already suspicious of us."

"Why would he be?" Harry asked in confusion.

Ginny gave him a look like he was stupid. "You didn't tell him our last names! When you wrote the letter to him, you only introduced us as "Harry and Ginny" that's pretty suspicious. If he ever asks about the spell, you were embarrassed for having him see you kissing." Ginny said looking over to Harry. Harry's color left his face.

"Oh god." He moaned. "He's seen us kissing! We're only eleven! I mean seventeen!"

"Actually, I'm only sixteen." Ginny added, smirking.

"Ugh! You know what I mean! He saw two _first _years _kissing!"_ Harry said putting his head on his hands. Ginny sighed and moved closer to him.

"Who cares?" She said simply. Harry looked up at her and laughed.

"Come one." She said, grabbing his arm and pulling him up. Both of them packed up what little things they had. They only had been able to buy their school things by chance.

As Ginny and Harry had sat at the table trying to figure out what to do, one of Tom's workers had stormed off and quit. Harry, knowing they needed a place to stay, had convinced Tom to hire Ginny and himself. He was very skeptical at first because of their age, but agreed eventually after they told him they had nowhere to go. The deal was they would be allowed a room to stay in and some extra money.

In the three months that they had worked there, they had scraped up just enough money to buy second-hand items. Making sure he had everything he shrunk his trunk and put it in his pocket.

"Ready to go?" Ginny asked, standing at the doorway. Harry looked up and smiled. He finally was able to relax with Ginny. Three whole months had gone by without anyone gawking at him as he walked down Diagon Alley. Harry could have laughed, who would have thought that a _Death Eater,_ of all people, would do something that Harry appreciated.

Harry and Ginny both made their way over to the bar counter when they got downstairs.

"You two leaving?" Tom asked when they got there. Harry nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, we just wanted to say thanks for everything." Tom really had made sure the two of them were always taken care of. He had sort of taken on the parental role for the two. This, however, made Ginny miss her mum more.

"Eh, it's nothing. I appreciate the work you kids did around here." He replied back smiling at the two.

Harry laughed. "Just keep the job open for us for next summer. Who knows how long we'll be here." Harry didn't mean to sound bitter, but Tom must have heard it as confusion passed on his face. Harry heard Ginny couch and noticed that she was giving him a pointed look. He looked down at his watch and noticed it was half past ten.

"Well, thanks for everything Tom. We'll see you around." Harry and Ginny waved good-bye and walked out into the muggle world.

Harry stuck out his hand to Ginny and watched as her color in her face drained.

"Sorry." He whispered. She closed her eyes and grabbed his hand. Harry spun on his heel and side-along apparated with Ginny.

The landing could have been better, but Harry was pleased seeing as how he was fully intact.

"You okay?" He asked Ginny. In response she just put up her hand to silence him. Harry grabbed her hand and led her into the station and led her near the entrance to The Hogwarts Express.

"You first." Harry said nudging Ginny towards the entrance. He watched as she slowly opened her eyes and looked around to see if anyone was looking, and noticing that nobody was, ran through the wall. Harry repeated Ginny's actions and ran through the wall himself. He noticed that Ginny was near the wall on the other side and her face had some more color.

"You okay there?" Harry asked apologetically.

"I don't throw up this time." Ginny said laughing weakly. Harry put his arm around her and led her onto the train not noticing the families he passed.

They eventually found an empty compartment and Harry unshrunk both his and Ginny's trunk and lifted them onto the overhead rack. Harry sat down by the window and watched as Ginny lay down on the same bench and as she put her head onto his lap.

"I'm sorry for making you feel sick." Harry said, playing with Ginny's hair.

"It's not your fault." Ginny said quietly. "You're just not good at Side-Along." She said jokingly. Harry just laughed and looked out the window.

"Ginny!" He said looking at a certain area out the window.

"What?" Ginny asked, sounding as if she was about to fall asleep.

"I could have sworn I just saw…" Harry said trailing off, losing sight of the red-headed girl. Harry watched as families' hugged good-bye and gave them impromptu last minute lectures as he ran his hands through Ginny's hairs. By the sound of faint breathing, Harry figured that Ginny fell asleep.

"Gin." Harry said, shaking Ginny gently.

"What?" She asked not fully awake.

"I'll be right back." Harry said, putting her head down and getting out into the corridor. He walked down the way the person had that made his blood boil. He found the compartment the person was in and luckily, it was deserted besides the one person.

The boy looked up and smiled at Harry noticing he, too, was a first year. Harry felt bad about this, but he needed to stop the problem before it began. There was no way in _hell _Harry would let this man begin a friendship with his father.

"Hello." The small boy said nervously. Harry locked the door behind him and closed the shades. The boy seemed confused by these actions and looked at Harry. Harry grabbed the front of the boy's robes and shoved him into the wall making the boy whimper.

"What do you want?" The boy squeaked out.

"Pettigrew." Harry spat out. He had half a mind to throw the little man out the window and not look back.

"How do you know my name?" Peter managed to say after a little while of cowering.

"It doesn't matter. I want to listen to me and do whatever I say, ok?" Harry said venomously. Harry continued when he saw Pettigrew nod quickly.

"Under no circumstances are you _ever_ to speak to James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Lily Evans. I don't care if they talk to you, ignore them and don't talk to them!" Peter had deep fear in his eyes, but Harry didn't care. All he saw in front of him was a cowardly man.

"Also, you make sure you're not in Gryffindor. Do whatever it takes, I don't care if you have to _beg _the hat, you make sure you're not in it! Am I clear?" Harry heard Peter gulp and he threw Peter down onto the bench.

"Good, you better follow through Peter." Harry said, unlocking the door and leaving without a second glance at the pathetic man with a spot on his robes.

Harry fought through the crowds in the corridor, even pushing some upperclassman out of the way. He finally made it too the compartment that he had left Ginny sleeping in and noticed another person was in the compartment.

The boy obviously had no clue that Harry was in there and was currently putting away his things. Harry noticed that Ginny was still asleep.

"Re-Remus." Harry croaked out. Remus spun around on his heel and Harry looked at the eleven year old werewolf. Remus was wearing shaggy looking robes that had obviously been patched up a considerable amount of times. He had scars outlining his face the seemed shallow as if still healing. Harry noted that the full moon had just been a week ago. When Harry looked into Remus' eyes he felt his heartbreak. Remus' eyes looked told the story of how alone they were. Harry could see deep depression and pain in his eyes that made Harry want to hug him. Harry snapped himself out of it before he began crying. The pain of Remus' death was still fresh in his mind.

"How did you know my name?" Remus asked confusion on his face.

"I, um, I heard someone that was with you on the platform say it." Harry lied, not breaking eye contact with Remus.

"Oh" Remus said, shuffling his feet uncomfortably under the gaze. "I'll leave now." Remus turned to grab his bags.

"No!" Remus spun around and looked shocked at the outburst. Harry quickly shot Ginny a look and noted she was still sleeping even after the outburst. "I mean, no." Harry said, quieter so as not to wake Ginny. He was felt horrible after having to Side-Along apparated her somewhere. She always felt sick and she deserved the rest.

"Why would you leave?" Harry said shrugging.

"Oh, well, there's someone already in the compartment." Remus said gesturing to Ginny.

"Don't worry about Ginny." Harry said, resuming his earlier spot and lifting Ginny's head back onto his lap where she adjusted to the new position.

Remus seemed a little embarrassed about the position, but that was to be expected, they did only appear to be eleven. He sat down across from Harry.

"Sorry about coming in here. There weren't many other compartments that were empty." Remus said as if he did something horrible. Harry knew that Remus had always been lonely, (except for his parents) and didn't have any friends. This, however, was much more than he expected. Remus was so vulnerable and seemed to want to fold into himself.

"It fine, you have as much of a right to be here than the next person. Don't matter what anyone tells you." Harry said the last part a little more fiercely than he meant to, but he always was protective of Remus and his "furry little problem".

Harry's heart fluttered at the thought. James Potter, _his dad_, was going to be here. Obviously, he wouldn't have the same bond a father and son would have. Right now, however, he would take anything over nothing.

Remus eyed him weird but didn't say anything.

There was a knock on the door and Harry felt as if he was going to have a breakdown. The one person that he was just thinking about was standing there with Harry's godfather.

Harry didn't realize it but he was shaking Ginny in an attempt to wake her up and she was protesting to this.

"Sod off Harry!" Ginny finally yelled but got up anyways. When she set eyes onto James and Sirius, she let out a small "Oh." Before opening the door for them.

"I'm sorry. Harry can be a right prat when he wants to be." Ginny said, as James and Sirius both put their stuff overhead.

"It's fine. We were in a different compartment with some kid, but once we introduced ourselves, he started freaking saying he was going to be in trouble and he made us get out." James explained. Harry was still staring at both James and Sirius that he didn't realize they were talking about Pettigrew.

"I'm Sirius Black and this is James Potter." Sirius said gesturing to each of them. Harry heard Remus introduce himself and when Ginny nudged, none too gently, he realized they were staring at him waiting for him to introduce himself.

"I'm Ha-Harry." Harry said, stuttering. He didn't realize he was staring, taking in everything about the young boys he had seen pictures of from Hagrid.

"Seeing as how _this _prat." Ginny said, nudging him to empathize the word prat. "Won't introduce me, I'm Ginny."

"No last names then?" Sirius asked, seeing as James was squirming under Harry's stare. Harry figured James would be staring too if Harry wasn't under a glamour charm. He still looked like he did when they entered The Three Broomsticks in what felt like years ago, but was actually three months.

"No." harry said, snapping out of his daze. "We're orphans. We met in an orphanage awhile back and we just stuck together." Harry said, reciting the lie they told Dumbledore in the letter they wrote him awhile back.

"Oh." Sirius said sitting down next to Remus. James also sat next to Remus, but on the other side.

"What house do you guys want to be in?" Harry asked nervously, he never thought he would be so nervous around his dad. However, he never thought he would meet his dad.

"'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad!" James said holding his hand into the air as if holding an imaginary sword. Sirius snorted.

"I didn't think you'd do that again after we met that greasy twit." Sirius said jokingly. Harry remembered viewing that memory when he viewed Snape's memory and couldn't help but laugh.

"Where do you want to be then?" James asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Slytherin, of course. Only the noble can go there!" Harry said, trying to keep a straight face. James looked disgusted, but then noticed Harry was on the verge of tears from trying to keep in the laughter.

"Prat." He muttered under his breath.

"Exactly." Ginny agreed. "Me and Harry both would like to end up in Gryffindor." Ginny said cuddling into the side of Harry. James, like Remus, seemed embarrassed. Sirius however, smirked.

"Got a girlfriend already Harry?" Sirius joked. Sirius was surprised, however, when Ginny answered.

"Yes. Gotta problem with it Black?" She snapped back. Harry looked down at her in shock. He wouldn't of necessarily of denied it, but he wouldn't of straight out confirmed it. Last time he checked, not many eleven year olds had girlfriends.

Sirius raised his hands in defeat.

"I want to be in Gryffindor too." Harry heard a Remus put in shyly.

"Really?" Harry asked. "Were any of your parents in Gryffindor?" Harry had never really talked to Remus about his parents before, so he figured since he had a chance he would take it.

"My dad was a Gryffindor but my mum was a Ravenclaw." Remus said, slightly embarrassed to have so much attention on him.

"That's interesting." Harry said looking at him. "Who do you take after more?"

"My mum." Remus said his voice slightly more confident. "I love reading books but I'm not as serious as a Ravenclaw. I like adventure, the bookish attitude tends to take over more though." This comment set James off and the two started talking. Something in that conversation had Sirius join in and the three began talking. Harry and Ginny would occasionally insert their feelings on certain subjects but let the three talk. Harry noticed that Reus was becoming slightly more confident but still seemed to want to fold into himself at any given chance.

Harry hadn't really noticed when the train started moving, but he knew it was sometime when he was talking to Remus. The orange leaves on a tree made Harry remember that he had another parent aboard.

"I'm going to take a walk real fast" Harry said. He heard the three of them say something before they went back to talking about Quidditch. He shook his head in wonder about how they got along so fast and pulled Ginny up with him. She complained but grabbed his hand anyway as he led her down the compartment.

As he walked past a compartment he noticed that Peter was sitting with some Hufflepuffs and when he saw Harry he seemed to shrink, which made Harry grin in satisfaction.

"Harry." Ginny said, making him stop and he followed her pointed finger through the window of a compartment.

"It's her." Harry said as he watched the red-headed girl talk to a pale faced boy with oily hair.

"Look who she's with though." Ginny replied, referring to Snape.

"I know. I have no plans on being friends, but I'll try and be nice to him. I owe him for certain things and I won't hate him." Harry said knocking on the door, which drew the attention of the people inside of it. Snape sneered at them while Lily smiled which made Harry's heart flutter for probably the tenth time that day.

Harry opened the door when Lily gestured them in.

"Hello. This is Ginny." Harry said gesturing to Ginny, who waved. "And I'm Harry."

"I'm Lily and this is Severus." She said gesturing to the greasy hair boy.

"Is there something you needed?" Snape said as an introduction.

"We just wanted to say hello to fellow first years. We're sorry to interrupt." Ginny said, sounding hurt although Harry knew it was an act.

"It's fine." Lily said smiling at Ginny. "I haven't seen anyone with the same hair color as me in a while. It looks a lot better on someone who isn't me."

"Thank you." Ginny said blushing. "I assure you, I think the same thing. You're hair though is lovely." Before Lily could reply, Snape cut her off.

"The boy has you're eyes also." Lily looked to Harry and noticed that he did have the same shade of green she had.

"Oh! I haven't seen anyone else with my eye color in a while either. I guess I'll find someone with all my other features now." Lily said with a laugh. Harry marveled at his mother's laugh. It was so warm and nice. It was also contagious and Harry found himself laughing along. They talked for a little while and Harry could see that Ginny was visually tiring. _Still probably from apparating with me _harry thought bitterly.

"Well, it was nice to meet you. We have to make our way back to our compartment." Harry noted that as he said that, Ginny seemed visibly relieved.

"Oh! It was nice meeting you too. I hope to see you again soon." Lily said as she smiled at the two of them. Snape just nodded in acknowledgement.

When Harry made his way back he noticed that the three riders they had left in the compartment were all eating some type of food, while Remus thanked both of them every once and awhile.

The rest of the ride went in peaceful silence (which was probably due to the fact that there was no Draco Malfoy to come and taunt them).

The five of them all got off of the boat and Harry watched with a smile on his face as Hagrid called for the first years. Harry was tempted to go over and talk to the man, but resisted. The five of them made their way to a boat and they all squeezed in.

Harry watched with a smile, again, when after they rode across the water, they were collected by Professor McGonagall. She gave the same speech that she gave when Harry was truly a first year which made him smile again. Hogwarts really hadn't changed.

When they arrived into the hall Harry looked around for a familiar face and he noticed that Ginny was doing the same thing. He laughed along with her when she pointed out her pre-adolescent parents.

"Sirius Black!" Harry heard McGonagall call out and was surprised that the sorting had begun and they didn't notice.

"Gryffindor!" The hat called out after a little while. Harry could notice the whispers and figured that would happen seeing as how most Blacks went to Slytherin.

Harry also smiled when Lily was sorted into Gryffindor, although he noticed Snape was less than happy.

"Remus Lupin!" Harry looked up when Remus' name was called out after a few other students.

"Gryffindor!" The hat called out, which made Remus grin.

Harry watched with perverted pleasure when Peter Pettigrew sat under the hat and seemed to sweat. It seemed to most of the hall that Pettigrew was arguing with the hat. Eventually the hat put Pettigrew into Hufflepuff, which made Harry snort.

"James Potter!" Was called out and Harry watched. He knew his dad would go into Gryffindor but couldn't help worry. He knew that what little he done would affect it, and James had wanted to go into Gryffindor. However, Harry still breathed a sigh of relief when the hat shouted "Gryffindor!"

Harry watched as the last person "Zambini!" was called, that Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus looked confused that there new friends had not been called.

McGonagall looked confused but when she looked up to Dumbledore he nodded.

"Ginny!"

Many students looked at the two still standing there in confusion. It was not normal for students to be sorted without a last name; however, these two seemed to be an exception.

Ginny walked forward with her chin in the air and sat down at the stool. Harry watched as Ginny seemed to converse with the hat before it shouted out "Gryffindor!"

Ginny, smiling made her way over to the Gryffindor table where she sat down in the middle by the three (soon to be) marauders and Lily.

"Harry!"

Harry looked up when his name was called and walked over to the stool with a confident air, unlike his first year when his name had made the students whisper.

"_Ah! What do we have here?" _Harry heard the voice in his head when the brim of the hat went over his eyes.

"_An eleven year old first year?" _Harry said hopefully.

"_No, no, no! You're just like the other girl! The Weasley!"_

"_Why, whatever are you talking about?" _Harry asked innocently.

"_Let's take a look." _ The hat said ignoring what Harry said.

"_Ah, yes! I see, like my future counterpart, that you'd be great in Slytherin! This is a perfect chance to test this theory!"_

"_WHAT! NO! You can't do that! I need to be here in Gryffindor with my family!" _Harry said, panicked.

"_I'm sorry, but I have made up my mind! Better be …!"_

**A/N: **Bum, Bum, Bum! Where will Harry end up? It shall be a mystery!

Unfortunately, I took a while to repost and I feel bad about that. This chapter is double the words of the last one!

I have said news unfortunately, Wednesday I start an S word and if you put an H word in front of the S word, which makes me an F word! Get what I mean?


	4. Harry Potter and Ginny Evans

Harry Potter and Ginny Evans

"_Wait! Tell me what evidence you have that I would be better in Slytherin? You have a perfect opportunity to look at the future and see how many times I acted without thinking! Please just put me in Gryffindor!" _Harry silently pleaded with the hat.

"_Information on the future does sound nice." _The hat said more to itself.

"_I'll make a deal with you; I'll tell you something from the future every time you do something for me." _Harry said as hopefully.

"_Ok, fine. Gryffindor!" _The hat shouted out loud. "_Now tell me something about the future!"_

"_More people get accepted to Hogwarts." _Harry said with a smirk. The hat really should have been more specific.

"You tricked me! Slytherin! Slytherin! The boy belongs in Slytherin!" The hat screamed even as Harry made his way over to the Gryffindor table, sitting right in between James and Sirius and opposite of Ginny.

"It wanted to put you in Slytherin?" James asked in disgust.

"Uh, yeah. But I told it how much I hated it." Harry said weakly. The amount of disgust in James' voice had really struck something in Harry. James just nodded distractedly.

"While that was not the most traditional sorting, I would like to welcome everyone to Hogwarts." Dumbledore said as he stood up and spread his arms wide; making Harry happy that there was a distraction. "To all of our new students, I would like to welcome you to your first year and I hope you enjoy your time here. For everyone that is returning for another year, I would also like to welcome you back. I know that all of our 5th and 7th years will certainly enjoy their testing." Dumbledore said with a smirk. "I would like to say just one more thing. Nitwit. Oddment. Tweak." Dumbledore said as he sat down.

"That was three things!" A student called from the Gryffindor table.

"Indeed it was, always the listener Mr. Brown." Dumbledore chuckled as he sat back down and food appeared on the tables. Harry smiled to himself as he heard the surrounding first years gasp with surprise. He looked up and noticed that Ginny was smiling to herself too.

"He's a bit crazy, isn't he?" Sirius commented.

"Of course, but that's what makes him so great." Harry said as he shared a smile with Ginny.

"How would you know what he's like?" Sirius asked as he shoveled food onto his plate.

"The newspaper and things like that."

"I heard about him from my parents, the way they talk about him he seems great." James supplied as he put more food into his mouth.

"He does seem really great." Remus commented.

"You all sound like his little fan group." Ginny said jokingly. James just stuck his tongue out as Remus blushed.

"Hello." A voice behind Harry said. Harry turned around and smiled in surprise.

"Hey Lily." Harry involuntarily flinched at seeing his mother and having to call her _Lily_. "Better than nothing." He muttered to himself.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" Lily asked politely.

"Sure! This is James Potter." Harry said, gesturing to his father. James smiled in return.

"Lily Evans." Lily said as she stuck her hand out for him to shake.

"As Harry said, I'm James Potter. You can call me James." James said as he winked. He reached his hand out and shook her hand. Harry could tell her smiled seemed a little forced now.

"This is Remus Lupin." Harry said as he gestured to the timid looking boy.

"Hello." Remus said shyly. She shook his hand also.

"And I am Sirius Black!" Sirius called out loudly, gaining the attention of some of the older students.

"Pleased to meet you." Lily said a little sarcastically.

"So Evans, how do you know Harry?" James asked, grinning at Lily.

"My name is _Lily_, not _Evans_, and we met on the train." Lily said as she scowled at her fellow Gryffindor.

"Don't worry about James." Harry quickly said. "Do you want to sit with us?"

"Sure." Lily agreed happily. She sat down next to Harry and lowered her voice as she leaned towards him. "Severus got sent to Slytherin and you and Ginny were really the only other ones who introduced themselves to me, I hope you don't mind that I sat here."

"It's fine." Harry said sincerely. "It's always nice to sit with you fellow Gryffindors."

"Not going to go after Evans too, are you Harry?" Sirius said teasingly. "I thought you and Ginny had something."

"Shut it Black." Harry said fiercely.

"I'm just saying Harry; you can't take all the women."

"Black." Harry said through gritted teeth, the need to defend his mother overpowering the need to be liked by his godfather. "If you don't shut up, I will curse you in front of this whole school.

"If you say so…" Sirius said, even though he let the subject drop.

"So Evans, what house were your parents in?" James asked as Harry continued to glare at Sirius.

"They're both muggles." Lily answered. "And my name isn't Evans!"

"Fine _Lily, _do you have any relatives?"

"I have a sister."

"She a witch too?"

"No." Lily said simply, turning away from James.

"Just trying to make conversation Evan- uh, _Lily_." James said in defeat.

"Sorry if I'm intruding, but why don't you and Ginny have last names?" Lily asked, avoiding looking Harry or Ginny in the eye. "I mean, on the list. It's supposed to be enchanted to know you name, first and last."

"Well, I don't know why the list wouldn't have our names." _We aren't born yet, hell, our parents aren't even old enough to _try _and have kids._ "But, my and Ginny are orphans and we just have always stuck together."

"Oh, well, I know this sounds weird but, did you work at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Geez, talk about personal space." Sirius muttered.

"Yeah, did get money for our supplies we did." Harry confirmed.

"I know it! I thought you looked familiar! When I got my supplies I saw somebody that looked exactly like you but I wasn't sure."

"Yeah, it wasn't a big job or anything, but Tom let us have a place to stay."

"You mean you were staying at the Leaky Cauldron?" James asked with a frown on his face.

"Yeah."

"For how long?"

"How long was it?" Harry asked as he turned to Ginny.

"About three months at least." Ginny said, thinking it over.

"Yeah, that seems right."

"Why though?" James asked, still frowning.

"Orphans, remember?" Harry said as he chuckled.

"How can you just laugh it off?" Remus asked timidly.

"Well, me and Ginny, our lives haven't been so great. We just tend to roll with it and as long as we're together, we're fine with whatever comes our way." Harry said as he pulled Ginny closer. Everyone seemed to avert their eyes from the two.

"Really guys, you don't have to act like we're glass." Harry said as he sighed.

"The only thing I don't get, is how it's just normal for you, it shouldn't be like that for anybody." Lily said quietly.

"Well, let's just change the topic, shall we?" Harry said cheerfully.

"Potter." James said suddenly.

"What?" Harry asked confused.

"You both don't have a last name, so I'm making you change it to Potter." James said fiercely.

"It's a nice gesture, but really, it's fine."

"No! I won't take no for an answer."

"James is right! Ginny can take my last name, we could pass for sisters." Lily said as she smiled at Ginny.

"Are you two sure about this?" Harry asked as he fidgeted in his seat, wanting to leap for joy on the inside.

"Positive." They both said simultaneously.

"Well then, Harry Potter and Ginny Evans it is." Harry said happily. As Harry was about to have one last piece of his dessert, it disappeared and everybody looked up to the head table, waiting for Dumbledore to stand and make any final announcements.

"Well Students, it is time to let our minds drift off. Before we do that, however, we must introduce our new Defense professor, Professor Kloves." Dumbledore swept his hand to his right and all eyes fixed on the professor whose eyes were sweeping the hall. Harry noticed that when the professor saw Remus, he glared fiercely at him. He did it in a blink of an, however, that Harry doubted anybody would have even noticed.

"Off to bed you go!" Harry stood with everybody else as the prefects rounded up the first years. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and they walked with each other to the tower.

"Like we need a guide." Harry muttered to Ginny as the prefect pointed out how the stairs had a tendency to move.

"Well, we'll certainly be good help when we make the marauder's map."

"True." Harry agreed. He waited as the prefect explained at the password and watched as he turned around and gave the password.

"That's original, 'Lion's Roar'." Harry said, causing Ginny to giggle. Harry was going to say something to Ginny when he was interrupted by James.

"You coming Harry?" James asked for the bottom of the stairs. "Or should I say Mr. Potter?"

"I think I'm going to stay down here for a little while." Harry said as he smiled at James.

"Keep the making out to a minimum!" Harry heard Sirius call from the top of the stairs.

"I'll get you Black!" Harry called.

"It's not worth it." Ginny said laughing as she pulled Harry away from the stairs. "I'll see you in a bit Lily." Ginny added when she saw Lily was also standing at the base of the stairs.

"Today turned out better than expected." Harry commented as he sat down in the couch in front of the roaring fire.

"Yeah, who would have thought I'd be an Evans?" Ginny asked as she sat down next to him. She grabbed his hand and let their intertwined hand rest on her lap.

"I never really expected that would happen. Think I might be able to take off my disguise?"

"You two could pass as twins!" Ginny said as she laughed.

"Yeah, it would be fun to mess with teachers." Harry agreed. Ginny was about to continue when she let out a jaw cracking yawn.

"I guess I should go to bed." She said glumly.

"You make it sound like its bad." Harry said as he chuckled.

"In my old body I used to be able to pull all nighters!"

"Well, you're still probably not feeling good from apparating this morning."

"Ginny, I now this sounds weird but, do you think it's weird that James immediately offered his last name to me?"

"Maybe." Ginny said while frowning. "But does it really matter?"

"I don't know, from what I saw of Snape's memory, I figured he'd be some tough guy."

"Harry, it was Snape's memory you were looking at, just erase all that from you head and think of him as a different person. Plus, he's _eleven._"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. "

"Goodnight Harry." Ginny pulled Harry up and quickly kissed his cheek. "Make out time to a minimum."

"Love you Ginny." Harry whispered as she walked away.

"Love you too." Harry heard her whisper back.

Harry laughed at her and watched as she walked away and started walking up the stairs leading to the girl's dormitory looking back and waving before continuing. A door to the boy's dormitory closing silently above him as Harry began up the stairs.

xXxXx

"Harry! Time to wake up!"

"Five more minutes." Harry muttered sleepily.

"Remus is already downstairs, we have 20 minutes!"

"Fine! I'm up." Harry threw the covers off of him and rushed into the bathroom without anyone seeing him and took a fast shower.

"How much time do we have?" Harry asked as he dried his hair with a towel, not bothering to use his wand.

"Only fifteen minutes! We would have had longer if you hadn't taken so long!" James insisted as he grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him down the stairs.

"Well, you should have woken me up earlier!" Harry protested. "And I don't have my books!"

"Who cares?" James yelled again as Harry struggled to get back up the stairs. Sirius grabbed Harry's other hand and they both pulled him further down the stairs.

"Harry?" Ginny asked as Harry was pulled straight through the common room.

"Hello Ginny, you look lovely today." Harry called back as Ginny began running after him.

"What are we running too?" Ginny asked, brushing hair out of her face.

"Why, class of course." Harry said as James and Sirius pulled him along.

"What are you talking about? Classes don't start for another hour, breakfast is about to start."

"You're joking, right?" Harry asked, shaking his head when she shook her head no. He pulled back fiercely on James' and Sirius' arm, pulling them to a stop.

'What're you doing? We're almost late!" James complained.

"For breakfast!" Harry said, annoyed.

"It's the most important meal of the day!" Sirius persisted. Harry took a breath in through his nose, and let it out his mouth.

"Let's walk at a more moderate page, ok?" Harry asked, trying to keep his anger at being woken up so early hidden. The two sadly nodded their heads.

"You'd think they'd never eaten before." Harry said as he intertwined his hand with Ginny's.

"They are eleven year old boys."

"I guess you're right." Harry said as he followed into the Great Hall behind his father and Sirius.

"There's barely anyone here!" Harry complained as he sat down in front of Sirius.

"Which means more for us!" Sirius said happily as he started to pile food onto his plate.

"I thought you said Remus was down here?" Harry asked as he looked down the table.

"Well, he left early this morning, so I figured he'd be down here." James said shrugging.

"Oh." Harry said simply, having an idea of where Remus was.

"You guys do realize that breakfast is an hour and a half long… right?" Ginny asked.

"It is?" Sirius asked, although Harry could tell he wasn't interested.

"You're not planning on staying here that long, are you?" Ginny asked.

"No, I think we're going to go the Quidditch pitch after."

"First years aren't allowed brooms though." Harry informed them, not caring that he himself had broken that rule.

"Yes, but they never said anything about borrowing brooms. It won't be our fault if the lock on the closet _accidently_ gets broken."

"If you say so." Ginny said as she shook her head.

"Care to join?" James asked the two of them.

"I don't know, first day of class and already getting a detention?" Harry asked jokingly.

"Scared?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, come on Harry!" Ginny said jokingly as she punched him on the shoulder. "We have to try flying sometime!"

"You mean you've never flown before?" James asked his eyes wide in shock.

"We're orphans remember? We only just learned about magic." Ginny said, a sly smile gracing her face.

"What are you talking about?" Harry whispered to Ginny as James and Sirius went back to their food.

"Come on Harry! Don't you want to impress your dad? Show off! I basically just told him we've never ridden a broom, you can make it seem like your some child prodigy!" Ginny whispered excitedly.

"I don't know Ginny…" Harry replied uncertainly

"Come on! We already have to hold back in our classes, why can't we be good in at least this one thing?"

"Fine." Harry said shortly, not wanting to get into it as James and Sirius were finishing and would be likely to try and listen if the conversation continued.

"Ready? We have an hour until classes, so we should be able to get in a race." James said happily.

"We'll go easy on you two as you've never ridden before." Sirius added with a smirk as the four got up to leave the Hall.

"Oh please, won't you?" Ginny asked mockingly.

"Oh, very funny, _Evans_." Sirius replied as he jumped out of reach of Ginny's grip.

"You better hope you can hold onto that broom." Ginny said as she ground her teeth together.

"I'd like to see you try to knock me off!" Sirius said happily as he ran off, causing Ginny to chase him. Harry realized that he was left alone with his father and silently cursed Ginny.

"So… Have you flown a lot?" Harry began nervously.

"Of course! My dad got me the latest broom at home, he always tries to out fly me but never can." James said with a smile on his face.

"Oh, that's nice." Harry said awkwardly.

"Yeah." James said back, ending the conversation. They finally caught up with Ginny and Sirius, who were trying to break into the broom closet in the Gryffindor changing room.

"Can't get it?" Harry asked as he and James approached the two.

"No, it's locked up tight." Sirius said as he walked away from it to let James and Harry try. Ginny, however, went to the side of the closet. Harry saw a flash of light come from her direction and she peeked out from the side.

"Hey guys, there's a hole here!" Harry watched as both James and Sirius looked surprised, hadn't they seen the flash of light?

"Can we get the broom out from it?" James asked.

"If we knock them over and pull them out sideways we can." Ginny replied. She kneeled down to the ground and bent her arm at an odd angle. Harry heard a _thud_ and before he knew it, she had pulled out a broom.

"Not the best model, but better than nothing." James replied as he grabbed it from her as she went back to get another one. Ginny repeated the process until all four of them had one, and Harry noticed that she had given herself and him the best ones.

"You may have better brooms, but we'll still win!" Sirius said confidently as they walked onto the pitch.

"If you say so Black." Ginny said with a smile on her face.

"How do you do this?" Harry asked, trying to play the part.

"Like this." James said, as he got on the broom and kicked up. As Harry followed in James steps sloppily, he made sure to wink at Ginny.

"I don't know if I can do this!" Harry yelled, trying to make his voice as terrified as it could be.

"It's ok Harry, just calm down!" James said, even though a smile was on his face. Harry winked at Ginny again, unnoticed, as he replayed the scene from his first flying lesson ever. He quickly rose into the air, yelling all the way up.

"Oh god Sirius! Save him!" Ginny cried desperately. Harry barely held in his laughter. He was surprised at how good of a pair of actors they were. By the time Sirius and James snapped out of their shock, Harry lightly pushed the broom forward, sending him into a steep dive. Harry heard James and Sirius yell, which he figured was a normal reaction, considering he was almost 100 feet in the air.

"Harry!" Harry heard Ginny yell in distress. Harry couldn't help but laugh as he went down, both James and Sirius on his tail, the wind quieting his laugh. As he flew down he saw James try and catch up but Harry ignored him. Harry watched as the ground came closer, signaling doom to James and Sirius, who had both pulled up in defeat. Just before he would have collided, Harry pulled up.

"Harry!" James called, pushing his broom down to the level Harry.

"That was so much fun!" Harry said, making it seem like it was his first time ever.

"Not for us! We thought you were going to die!" Sirius said, even thought there was a smile. "But did you see how awesome that was? I thought he was splattered for sure!"

"Harry! You get down here right now!" Ginny called, who harry noticed, had landed on the ground. Harry would have thought she was mad if he didn't know she was trying not to smile. Harry slowly flew back down to the ground, in front of Ginny and directed his eyes to the ground.

"That was so great! Did you see their faces? We just pranked the future prankster!" Ginny said excitedly, before James and Sirius could join them.

"I know! They thought I was going to die!" Harry said happily as he heard James and Sirius land.

"Do you know how irresponsible that was of you?" Ginny began, without missing a beat. "You could have died!"

"Hey, Ginny, calm down, he totally had it under control! For someone who's never been on a broom before, he really did great." James said, trying to stop Ginny before she could began on a full rampage.

"You!" Ginny said, turning onto James. "This is your fault!"

"What?" James asked confused.

"Ginny, calm down, everything's fine now." Harry said, letting Ginny know she could drop the act.

"Fine! But if you do anything that idiotic again in your life, I'll skin you." Ginny said in a fierce whisper which even made James and Sirius collapse into themselves.

"I think it's time for class." Sirius said, trying to break the 'tension' that had formed. Ginny stomped forward toward the changing room and the three boy s followed in silence.

"That one has a temper she does." Sirius said quietly to the other two, guessing he was out of hearing range of Ginny.

"But that's why she's the best." Harry added, to which Sirius snorted. When the three boys caught up with Ginny, they quietly handed her the brooms to which she just stood them up against the wall.

"Don't you think they'll notice?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

"Do you think they'll notice if I give you a black eye?" Ginny hissed back. Sirius paled but held his arms up in defense. Sirius and James walked ahead first, leading the way.

"You really are a good actress." Harry whispered to Ginny as they followed Sirius and James out of the tent.

"I know." Ginny said with a smile. "Being the only girl, I really didn't have to act too much to get what I wanted, but it was good to make myself better anyways."

"I was actually getting a little afraid there." Harry admitted jokingly.

"Well, it was pretty stupid. I said _impress, _not try to kill yourself."

"Yeah, I guess you did." Harry laughed. "Ready to dumb down for classes?"

"Well, you really don't need to dumb down. How long did it take you to levitate that feather?" Ginny teased, pushing Harry on the shoulder.

"It's really quiet." Harry noted as they walked past the Great Hall.

"You don't think we're late, do you?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"I don't see how we could be, it hasn't been that long." It turned out that they were, indeed, late. Harry would later swear they weren't out there for that long, but joked that time flew when you flew, to which Ginny punched him. They weren't _too _late, only fifteen minutes. So, the four of them, James and Sirius having looked in the Great hall to see why it was so quiet, raced to the Gryffindor common room. They quickly gathered up there things and raced out.

"Wait, where are we going?" James asked, realizing they had no clue where they actually were going.

"Defense?" Harry supplied helpfully. He wished he could just point the way and they could run, but he knew that it couldn't be like that.'

"But _where_ is Defense?" James emphasized.

"We are _so _screwed." Sirius said in defeat.

"I think I heard someone say it was on the third floor?" Ginny said, sounding confused but hopeful. Harry was just glad she thought of something

"Better than nothing!" James replied as they took off toward the third floor. Once they arrived there, they followed the noise. It wasn't a lot of noise, just a single voice, not a very welcoming voice either. James took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

"Well look who decided to finally show up!" Professor Kloves snapped as the four sheepishly walked in.

"Sorry sir." Harry said quietly as he took an open table, one seat for him and another for Ginny. It seemed that Lily was the only one who had wanted to sit up front. She had taken the front right table, leaving the other two front tables open. Harry and Ginny took the front left, after racing James for it, leaving James and Sirius to take the front middle table.

"You should be! You missed 25 precious minutes of my lecture!" Professor Kloves snapped at them again. "As I was saying, this year will not be _fun. _ There will be very little practical lessons. We first must understand what Dark Creatures hide out there. Creatures that will destroy you. Some of these Creatures include; Werewolves, Vampires, Dementors, and Acromantulas."

"Sir." Harry said bravely, raising his hand but not waiting to be called on. "How do you know werewolves are dangerous?"

"You're joking right?" The Professor asked, staring at Harry incredulously.

"Well, no, I'm not." Harry said seriously. The class behind him was deathly silent and Harry wasn't surprised. He was a first year student, who had arrived almost thirty minutes late, and had dared to contradict a new teacher.

"How can you even say that?" Kloves asked furiously.

"Well, what you're saying is a generalization and you're just adding to the stereotype."

"Every single one of those monsters are blood-thirsty killers!" Kloves said as he slammed his fist onto Harry's table. Ginny gave Harry a look that clearly told him to stop but he pushed on.

"How do you know, have you ever personally met one?" Harry asked, staring the man in the eye.

"No." Kloves stuttered, trying to find his grip on the conversation. "What about all the attacks in the papers?"

"Those are the few werewolves who choose to take the darker path and kill during the full moon." Harry responded calmly.

"So you admit they're killers!"

"No, I think you're just grabbing for straws now." Harry said as he folded his arms over his chest.

"But some of them are still murders and the rest still have that urge!" Insisted Kloves angrily.

"Well, I could argue that wizards have that basic urge also. But we don't group every single wizard because of the action of other wizards. Take Grindelwald for example. Are we to group all wizards for the actions taken by a man and his followers?" Harry calmly, while on the inside he was cheering himself on. That _that_ Kloves! Harry thought to himself as Kloves stood there, fuming as the bell rang.

"Dismissed!" He yelled loudly as he walked into his office and slammed the door shut behind him.

"God Harry, that was amazing!" James said happily as he approached Harry.

"Thanks." Harry said, happy at the compliment from his father.

"I can't believe you contradicted a teacher like that! On the first day too!" Sirius added.

"Harry! How could you?" Came the voice of Harry's mother. Harry's eyes immediately dropped to the ground. "He's a teacher; you shouldn't disrespect him like that!"

"Sorry." Harry mumbled, apologizing like a child that had just been caught.

"You should go apologize." Lily added as she put her hand on her hip.

"No!" Harry, James, and Sirius shouted at the same time. They looked at each other before laughing. Harry finally caught his breath and noticed that Lily was looking disapproving at Harry.

"Why should I? He was stereotyping werewolves!" Harry said defensively. "That's not right to do whether you think it is or not!"

"He was still a teacher!" Lily persisted.

"Whatever Lily." Harry said as he turned around to leave, he hated to turn his back on his mother, but he couldn't help it. He needed her to understand some things are more important than teachers. And he needed all of them to understand not every werewolf is a monster.

"What did you think you were doing in there?" Ginny hissed in his ear when he walked out of the classroom.

"Standing up for Remus." Harry whispered back as he continued to walk to their next class.

"I know that, but we have to look like we know nothing of the magical world!" Ginny said again.

"It was the right thing to do." Harry said simply.

"This isn't just what's about right and wrong Harry; it's more than that now!" Ginny said as she stomped her foot.

"Well this time it wasn't. I'm not about to let Remus go through that again."

"What do you mean, again?" Ginny asked, confused.

"Think Ginny, this is the past. Remus, our Remus, had to go through this. He had to sit by while a teacher who knew about him sat there throughout the year as he listened to a prejudiced man. I'm not about to let that happen again!" Harry said, trying to make Ginny understand his message.

"I guess I never thought of that." Ginny said quietly.

"I know, but I did." Harry said as he looked at Ginny and then he grabbed her hand gently. "We're here to change what happened before. I'm going to try and make them not have to go through anything they didn't like before."

"But harry, didn't you think that that's what made them the people they are today? That that's the reason there like that, because they went through those hardships." Ginny said gently. Harry was torn; he really couldn't be sure at this point.

"I don't know Ginny; I need to think about this whole thing." Harry said as he began to walk, thinking Ginny was walking with him. He looked back confused when his arm was pulled.

"You've had three months to think about this Harry, you can't have any longer."

**A/N: **So how did this chapter turn out? I hope I'm doing Eleven year old James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily some justice. Let me know what you think about it.


	5. Mrs Tibbles

**Mrs. Tibbles**

"I know that I need to choose Ginny. It's just that I'm basically taking their lives into my hands. That's not something I can really take lightly." Harry said as he ran his hand through his hair. "I mean, you're right. The things I'm changing right now are the things that make them who we know them to be. If I changed everything b that they went through, they won't be the same. The temptation to protect them is just so overwhelming."

"I understand Harry." Ginny said soothingly as she grabbed his hand. "You want to protect the people that protected you. There are some things that you can't protect them from, though. Think of what Kloves did to Remus when we weren't here. He undoubtedly showed hate towards Remus. Don't you think that would have hardened him and showed his that he couldn't always trust teachers?"

"You're right. I'll try not to step in and control everything. I'll help them along, but I won't force my way into things and change them. I'll try and make sure I don't affect major events, like them becoming the Marauders or becoming animagi. But there's no way in hell I'm letting my parents argue for six damn years until they realize how they feel about each other." Harry said passionately. Ginny laughed lightly.

"I never doubted that you wouldn't try and change that. But you did already change one major thing Harry…" Ginny said, trailing off and letting Harry think back. Realization lit in his eyes.

"You don't mean to say that I should've let that rat get close to them?" Harry asked angrily.

"That's not what I said Harry, but right now he's probably just as afraid you were when you first came Hogwarts. I don't know if it was the best course of action, but he won't be able to sell out your parents if it ever came to that. However, he'll probably be even more likely to join the Death Eaters now. He'll likely have no friends and won't worry what they think about him if he does join Voldemort's side."

"Are you saying I should just try to change him and make it so he never goes to Voldemort?" Harry asked with a sigh.

"I'm not saying you should do anything. It's up to you Harry. I'll support you either way though. Unless you do something incredibly stupid and you force me to knock some sense into you." Ginny said with a teasing smile.

"I'll try and think things through before I just change them. That's not a very Gryffindor thing to do though."

"Just because we were sorted in Gryffindor, doesn't mean we can act like Gryffindors right now. If anything, we have to take the Slytherin approach." Ginny said with a smile.

"You're right, like you normally are."

"You better believe it Potter." Ginny said as she poked Harry's chest playfully. Her eyes went wide a second after. "Crap! We're probably late for class!"

"Great!" Harry said with a grumble. "And it's transfiguration, too! Even with another chance I'm going to be late for her first class!"

"Enough talking, start running!" Ginny said as she pushed Harry's chest. They both took off, running to the ground floor as fast as they can.

"How mad do you think McGonagall will be?" Ginny asked as they quickly ran down the steps.

"She'll probably still be a cat. I wish we could just walk in and say hello to her." Harry said wistfully.

"I can think of something better though!" Ginny said with a laugh, right as they arrived in front on the transfiguration class door.

When they walked in, just like Harry had guessed, McGonagall was still in her cat form. Of course, for all Harry knew, she had already revealed herself and told the students to play along. They were only five minutes late, and Harry guessed if they were any later than that McGonagall wouldn't have waited and would've just started her lesson. They quickly walked to the front of the room, where the only open table was _("Honestly, what was it with kids and not wanting to sit in the front?"_ Harry thought to himself) and right as Harry turned to the table, Ginny continued straight.

"Ginny?" Harry whispered quickly.

"Oh! What a cute cat you are! Do you know where the professor is? Are you her cute kitty cat?" Ginny asked as she approached the desk, and to Harry's horror, began to pet McGonagall. Harry could hear the snicke3rs from the students behind him and figured that they knew it was the professor.

"Do you have a name? How about Mrs. Tibbles? Do you think that name?" Ginny continued to coo as she scratched the bottom of the cat's mouth. Right as the newly christened Mrs. Tibbles began to purr, she leapt off the desk and transformed back to Professor McGonagall. She had a slight blush on her cheeks and her hair was slightly ruffled.

"Honestly," McGonagall started. "Do you always just pet a cat when you see one, Ms. … Ms. Ginny?

"Oh, I'm sorry professor!" Ginny said with shock. "I thought you might've been late and that Mrs. Tibbles was your pet!"

Harry snickered when Ginny said Mrs. Tibbles, as did the rest of the class.

"In all of my years here I have yet to have a student pet me _and _give me some pet name! You may take your seat." McGonagall said as she gestured to the seat next to Harry. The blush was still present on her cheeks when she turned to her desk to collect herself.

"That was brilliant." Harry whispered to Ginny when she sat down next to him.

"Thanks. I think I may have to look up being an actress while I'm here. I'm doing a pretty good job of acting today, if I do say so myself." Ginny said with a smile that she quickly wiped off when McGonagall turned around. Her blush was gone and she had fixed her hair.

"Well, now that a good fifteen minutes of our class is gone, I want you to start reading chapter one of your textbook and finish it for homework. Tomorrow we'll discuss it and if everything goes according to plan," McGonagall gave a slight glance at Ginny then continued. "We should be able to start the practical part of our lesson."

Harry quietly pulled out his textbook but he really didn't plan on reading it. He doubted he really needed to read up on the basics and so he settled for staring at the textbook.

"Professor?" Harry heard a voice ask from behind him.

"Yes, Mr. Black?" McGonagall asked from her desk.

"Is it ok if we call you Mrs. Tibbles?" Sirius asked deadpanned.

"Under no circumstances do I ever want to hear any of you call me Mrs. Tibbles." McGonagall said with vehemence in her voice. "Now continue your reading, and don't let me hear any other noise."

With a snicker, Harry turned back to his book. The class continued in silence for another five minutes until it was broken by one noise.

"Meeoooooow."

The class erupted in laughter and McGonagall glared at the back row. "I don't know whether it was Potter or Black, but you both have detention with me tonight. Congratulations, you have the honor of being given the first detention on the year. Class dismissed!"

"First day of classes and you two already have detention." Ginny said with a smirk as she and Harry approached the two boys. "Impressive."

"Thanks. Only talented students like us could get detention so soon." Sirius said as he collected his books.

"So you're saying you two are the only ones able to get a detention?"

"Well, we're the only students with the audacity to get it so soon." Sirius elaborated.

"Oh?" Ginny asked and she turned around right before they left. "Professor, does Mrs. Tibbles like any certain brand of cat treats? I can bring you some, if you'd like."

"You will join Mr. Potter and Mr. Black in detention tonight Ms. Ginny. 8 o'clock sharp." McGonagall said without even looking up.

"It seems like we got ourselves into a contest, Sirius." James said with a smile as they left the classroom. "Person with the most amount of detentions by the end of the year gets the title of the most badass student in Hogwarts."

"You're on, Potter, Black!" Ginny said with a smile.

"May the best man, or women, not very likely though, win!" Sirius agreed happily.

"Are you in Harry?"

"No thanks. I think I'll find other ways to occupy my time than to get detentions."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked, amused.

"There are more important things we can be doing." Harry said trying to make Ginny get what he was saying? "The moon shines brighter and larger than it has the past couple of days."

"I know that and don't think I don't think about it." Ginny snapped. "But that doesn't mean we can't have fun."

Before Harry could reply, Sirius quickly interrupted. "Guys, it's almost time for lunch, let's go!"

Glad that Sirius had stopped the inevitable fight that had been brewing, Harry quietly followed behind the gang.

"Where's Remus?" Harry asked, noticing that Remus and Lily weren't with them. Of course, Lily was still probably mad at him for talking back to Professor Kloves earlier, but Remus should've still been with them.

"He took off right at the end of class." James said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"He's probably in the Great Hall." Sirius added.

When they finally got to the Great Hall, Harry noticed Remus was sitting by himself at the end of the table, away from everyone else.

Sirius and James started walking towards the middle of the table but Harry veered off towards Remus.

"Harry?" James asked, noticing Harry leaving the group.

"I'm going to sit with Remus, he looks lonely." Harry explained.

"Me too." Ginny added, walking towards Harry. Shrugging, James continued to walk towards the middle of the table, Sirius not far behind.

"I'm starving." Harry complained as he sat down right across from Remus, making the boy jump a little.

"So am I." Ginny agreed as she began to pile food onto her plate. Remus just looked at them for a second before going back to his food.

"So, Remus, how have you liked our first day of classes?" Harry asked as he chewed on a fried potato.

"It's been fine." Remus said quietly.

"We've been late for both classes, did we miss much?" Ginny asked as she eyed the array of food, wondering what else she wanted.

"Not really. Professor Kloves was just lecturing how evil dark creatures are." Remus's eyes darkened and saddened for a second before he continued. "And Professor McGonagall just told us she wanted to give you a scare, right before you walked in. It didn't seem to go according to plan though…"

"Yeah, it really didn't, did it?" Ginny asked with a laugh.

"The look on her face when she transformed back was _priceless_!" Harry agreed with a smile.

"It was pretty funny." Remus said quietly with a small smile. Harry had only realized how relaxed Remus had become when Lily sat down next to him. In just a second, his body had become rigid and his eyes downtrodden.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier, Harry. It just seemed a little rude to be yelling at a new teacher, especially when you're late to his class on the first day."

"Oh." Harry said, a little shocked that Lily was apologizing. "So you don't think I'm wrong for yelling at Professor Kloves?"

"No, I think it was completely inappropriate of you. However, I don't want to fight with one of my only new friends over something so stupid."

"But the things he was saying…" Harry began, only to be cut off.

"It doesn't matter what he was saying, Harry. He is still your professor and you should have some respect for him. He could've stood there and called you hundreds of different names and you still should've kept quiet. That man can make your life a living hell here." Lily finished wisely. Harry put his eyes to his food, feeling like a child who'd been scolded.

"You're right. I should not have been so quick to fight with him. I'll try to have more patience with him. I'm not going to let him go too far. He was still saying rude and ignorant things."

"I never said you should just lie down and take everything the man throws at you. All I'm trying to say is you should pick your battles with him." Lily said with a small smile.

"I'm glad we had this talk." Harry said happily.

"Me too." Lily said, smiling widely at him. She looked around the little group, forgetting that they were there. "So, how is everyone doing?"

xXxXx

"Harry, shouldn't you be finishing your reading for Professor McGonagall?" Lily asked as she, Harry, Ginny, James, Sirius, and a quiet Remus sat in the common room. The six of them were all occupying themselves with something. Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus all read their transfiguration textbook while Ginny wrote in a leather bound journal. Harry, however, just sat in the loveseat next to Ginny and looked around.

"Nah, I read it." Harry said with a shrug. Of course he hadn't re read it, why would he bother? But unless McGonagall decided to get into specifics about the chapter, Harry figured he could make his way through a class discussion.

"You couldn't have read thirty pages in those ten minutes." Lily said with doubt.

"I didn't. I read it before class." Harry replied casually. The scratching of the quill from Ginny writing had ceased and she was watching Harry.

"Oh! So you read ahead? How far ahead did you read?"

"Um, not too far ahead." Harry said, hoping Lily wouldn't question him on the content of the book.

"Do you know enough to try any magic?" James asked, having deserted his book. Harry noticed that everyone in the group was now looking at him.

"I might…" Harry said uncertainly. Ginny was watching him with amusement. Her words from this morning flashed backed to him. _"__Come on Harry! Don't you want to impress your dad? Show off!" _Though this time it wasn't just his dad.

"I could try." Harry suggested. "What do you want me to do?"

At the blank stares of his friends, Harry sighed. "How about I turn one of your books into a teacup?"

"Here, take mine." Sirius offered as he tossed his book to Harry. Harry caught it and set it on his lap. He didn't want to make it a perfect transformation, so he figured he would just change the shape but leave the texture of the book.

Taking a breath, Harry waved his wand over the book. He watched as the book changed in the blink of an eye. Like he had planned, the book had changed into a teacup but was made out of the cover of the book.

"I guess I sort of did it?" Harry said uncertainly.

"Can you change it back?" Sirius asked. "Not that it isn't cool, but I don't need McGonagall yelling at me for not having my book."

"Bloody hell!" Ginny said suddenly. "We have detention with McGonagall!"

"What time is it?" James said frantically.

"8:20." Harry told the frantic trio.

"Run!" Sirius yelled, bolting out the door. James followed behind quickly.

"I'll catch up with you!" Ginny yelled at the boys. With a laugh, she sat down.

"Aren't you going with them?" Lily asked, confused.

"I could." Ginny said thoughtfully. "But if I don't go, I'll get another detention. Hopefully two."

"Why would you want to get more detentions?" Remus asked quietly.

"Ginny, James, and Sirius have some absurd bet going on that whoever gets the most detentions by the end of the year gets some silly title." Harry explained.

"That seems stupid." Lily said. "I thought you were smarter than that Lily?"

"I am smart, which is why I'm not going tonight. I can't let two silly eleven year old boys think they're better than me, can I?" Ginny replied playfully.

"It's a pride thing." Harry said simply. He remembered the teacup that was still in his lap. He quickly changed it back. "I'm going to run this up to our room."

Harry got up and quickly jogged up the stairs leading to their room. He went in and set down the book on Sirius's messy bed. He was about to leave when he noticed that James's trunk was slightly open.

"_I wonder if his dad gave him the cloak…"_ Harry quietly thought to himself. Not that it mattered much, he was just curious. He quickly looked at the door. Sirius and James were in detention and Remus was with Ginny and Lily.

"A quick look wouldn't hurt…" Harry muttered to himself. He was merely curious, that's all. It wasn't like he was going to _steal_ anything. Harry quickly walked over to James's trunk and pushed the top open. He quickly searched through the clothes and other items in the trunk. Just as he was about to give up, his hand felt the smooth silk tightly folded in one of the corners.

"Harry?" A voice asked from the doorway. Harry quickly pulled his hand out of the trunk and looked at Remus. "What are you doing?"

"I, uhh, I had thought James had taken something from me and I was, uhh, just checking to see if it was there." Harry said lamely. Remus just looked at him oddly.

"I didn't take anything. I swear. You can check me if you want." Harry said sincerely. He cursed at himself in his mind, however, furious at his curiosity. Now Remus would think he was a thief!

"I believe you." Remus said quietly.

"Great! You wouldn't mind if we kept this between me and you, would you?" Harry asked, faking happiness.

"I'll keep it a secret." Remus said quietly.

"Do you want to go back into the common room?" Harry suggested as he nervously rubbed his neck.

"I think I might turn in for the night…" Remus said as he walked towards his bed.

"Ok." Harry said. He began walking towards the door, but stopped halfway there.

"Remus?" Harry said nervously.

"Yes, Harry?" Remus asked as he stood in front of his trunk.

"I…I…" There was so much Harry wanted to say to the boy. He wanted to let Remus know it was alright. That he would be safe here. That Harry and Ginny and all of his other friends wouldn't care that he was a werewolf. That he would do his best to protect Remus. That Remus didn't have to be so shy and afraid. That Remus would be accepted for who he was. But for now, he couldn't tell him. He had to show the boy that he would be ok.

"Goodnight, Remus." Harry said as he left the room. Harry heard a quiet 'goodnight' as he went down the stairs.

xXxXx

"I don't know what to do Ginny. I want to tell him everything so that he doesn't have to be so… so… withdrawn!" Harry said fiercely. His voice echoed in the quiet common room. Their only company was the slow burning fire. Lily had gone to bed a few minutes ago and James and Sirius had yet to return. Harry and Ginny sat with each other on the loveseat. "I hate seeing him like this."

"I know Harry, but you can't tell him anything without freaking him out. Think of how he would react if you went up to him and told him you knew he was a werewolf." Ginny said as she held his hand. "He would freak out. Even if you did manage to calm him down and let him know you didn't care, he would wonder how you knew. You technically only met him yesterday."

"Plus he already probably suspects me for going through James's trunk." Harry said with a sigh. "I just want to do _something_! I hate just sitting around."

"You can get him to feel comfortable. Keep him company. Find some way to make him think you aren't prejudiced against werewolves. That way he can trust you. Hell, he may even confide in you. Think about how confident that would make him if he told you he was a werewolf and you were there to tell him you didn't care? There are more subtle ways to help him."

"I guess. It's better than nothing." Harry said with a sigh. "But where do I start?"

"Just start hanging out with him. Ask him questions about his life. What does he like to do? How are his parents? Does he have any siblings? Even if you know the answer, ask the question." Ginny said with a smile.

"It'll take a while, but I won't rest until I get Remus to feel comfortable here." Harry said. Ginny smiled at Harry and rested her head on Harry's shoulder. They both shared a peaceful moment of bliss that was interrupted seconds later by the bang of the portrait door.

"You!" James yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Ginny.

"What did I do?" Ginny asked with a tone of innocence and a smile.

"You told us you were going to catch up with us! You left us to suffer the wraith of McGonagall by ourselves!" James yelled, storming towards Ginny.

"You know what her punishment was? She made hundreds of filthy rats appear! She told us, 'Mrs. Tibbles is on break tonight, so I need you to catch all of these rats.' And then, after we had caught most of them in a cage, she let them out!" Sirius added, his face red from yelling. Harry watched the two with a blank face for a second before breaking out in laughter. Ginny soon joined him and the two held onto each other as they laughed.

"It's not funny! It's cruel and unusual punishment! I just can't _wait_ until class tomorrow to see what she'll say to you. And by the way, me and Sirius have served a detention each, while you have served none." James said with anger. Glaring at Ginny one last time, he left the common room and headed towards their dorm, Sirius following behind.

"Damn, I'm going to enjoy this contest." Harry said when he finally stopped laughing.

**A/N:** It's been a while, hasn't it? Heh, sorry about that. I'm definitely going to give this story more attention. It's not right that I'm just abandoning it.

Let me know what you think of it and how you think I've handled James and everyone else.

Hope everyone had a great holiday and have a happy and safe New Year!


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